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A review by bibi_reads_writes
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2.0
“I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going.”
Time travel, romance, a movie, a TV series, good ratings… I really thought I’d enjoy this book.
In reality, I hated it. I would have DNFed if it wasn’t an audiobook and if I did not have a lot of driving, cleaning, and gardening to do.
I felt like I was reading a romanticized, glamourized ethical conundrum rather than a love story. I mean, I love books that make me reflect, ponder, introspect. But this novel had all shades of wrong.
Plot:
The plot was interesting, but the execution was extremely lacking, with many, many, many problematic aspects, especially about grooming and consent (or rather, lack of).
I always find grooming disturbing and disgusting, but this book takes the cake.
· Henry grooms young Henry. (He even goes so far as to give his other self a hand- and/or blowjob (it’s not specified in the book); I mean, what the actual hell?)
· Henry grooms Clare, starting age 6.
· Clare grooms Present Henry into becoming Future Henry, the one she fell in love with.
Phew.
People who say that the grooming is consensual need to be reminded that she is a minor – no, a child – groomed from age 6 and influenced on every aspect of her life by an adult man who “knows everything.”
How is she ABLE to consent to any of this?
Henry tells Clare what she likes, where’s she’s going to live. She knows NOTHING of life outside the path that was laid down before her.
Can we REALLY say it is consensual, when there is actually no choice to be made at all?
Also on the matter of consent:
· Future Henry makes love to Clare while Past Henry sleeps beside her. He is already DOING her before she realises it’s not the husband sleeping next to her. No consent.
· Clare has sex with Past Henry and becomes pregnant with his child after Present Henry has decided to get a vasectomy. Consent, hello?!
What about 41-year-old Henry leaving Clare in bed in their home to take 18-year-old Clare’s virginity in the past?
Is this cheating? Is it not?
Is this some kind of polyamory where Present Henry / Clare is the primary relationship, and Future and Past Henry / Clare are the secondary relationships and where “what happens in the past and future, stays in the past and future?” Or some kind of exclusive open marriage?
There are no discussions, adjustments, disagreements, etc. on the topic, which is hardly realistic. Anyone who’s been in any kind of polyamorous arrangement knows that it’s never that simple. You need to discuss desires, boundaries, and apprehensions to make sure both parties are comfortable. And recalibrations are often necessary – and it’s perfectly healthy and okay.
I just remembered about that time when Clare voices concerns about them having “too much sex.” YES! This is NORMAL! A discussion! …oh, but he gaslights her and then proposes, and she says yes. Wow, how nice to see romance isn’t dead.
Characters:
Maybe the book would have been more tolerable if the characters were more likeable. ANY character.
Henry (Past, Present, and Future) and Clare were both insufferable.
Henry is a pretentious, manipulative felon. There, I said it.
I’m not sure if Clare has a mental condition of some sort or if she just likes to hear herself talk, but do we REALLY need to know EVERYTHING she does and eats, in detail? And how many bananas, exactly, are on the table or the brands of all the cars? What’s the point? It’s not part of a scenery description and it’s not useful for her backstory or character development. Is this to make the chapters longer and use up space?
e.g.: “I have prepared and eaten macaroni and cheese and a small salad, have taken my vitamins, half consumed a large glass of skimmed milk.”
Every single chapter.
I mean, I don’t get it. It’s so annoying I literally burst out, “But who cares!” a few times in front of my partner or random people during her chapters.
It’s hard to care about what happens to characters when they annoy you that much.
But you know what we read/hear too little about? Clare’s assault and trauma. It happens out of the blue and it’s never mentioned after the revenge scene. There’s no PTSD, freezing, avoidance, hyper-vigilance, flashbacks, or intrusive thoughts. She’s not even apprehensive about her first sexual encounter with Henry. It’s like it never happened and she can have a perfectly healthy relationship with sex despite the trauma.
Gomez, Ingrid, Celia, and even little Alba were almost as insufferable. Charisse and some of Henry’s coworkers and doctors seemed like the only tolerable beings in the lot. All the persons of colour were stereotyped, it was cringey and almost embarrassing.
Writing:
I felt like the writing was very dull, with Henry and Clare’s every move documented in a flat, monotonous way. And I can’t decide if it’s the writing or the characters that I find most pretentious, but I’ve never heard English speakers use that many French or German words in their day-to-day life. And name drop artists and musicians and other famous people. I felt like it was written with the specific goal of impressing. Bleh. It only made me cringe.
The narrative flow / storytelling rhythm is also very inconsistent. Some trivial parts go on and on and on, and some key moments are over in a few paragraphs. I feel like the first parts of the novel dragged on forever, and the later parts (marriage! fertility issues! multiple miscarriages! matrimonial trouble! baby! death!) were rushed. I’m not sure if it’s the result of the author not understanding the importance of some events / traumas, or if it’s a narrative technique (“time is running out”), but it felt anticlimactic and inconsistent.
In short: I don’t recommend.
Seriously, don’t waste your time, money, or energy on this book.
Time travel, romance, a movie, a TV series, good ratings… I really thought I’d enjoy this book.
In reality, I hated it. I would have DNFed if it wasn’t an audiobook and if I did not have a lot of driving, cleaning, and gardening to do.
I felt like I was reading a romanticized, glamourized ethical conundrum rather than a love story. I mean, I love books that make me reflect, ponder, introspect. But this novel had all shades of wrong.
Plot:
The plot was interesting, but the execution was extremely lacking, with many, many, many problematic aspects, especially about grooming and consent (or rather, lack of).
I always find grooming disturbing and disgusting, but this book takes the cake.
· Henry grooms young Henry. (He even goes so far as to give his other self a hand- and/or blowjob (it’s not specified in the book); I mean, what the actual hell?)
· Henry grooms Clare, starting age 6.
· Clare grooms Present Henry into becoming Future Henry, the one she fell in love with.
Phew.
People who say that the grooming is consensual need to be reminded that she is a minor – no, a child – groomed from age 6 and influenced on every aspect of her life by an adult man who “knows everything.”
How is she ABLE to consent to any of this?
Henry tells Clare what she likes, where’s she’s going to live. She knows NOTHING of life outside the path that was laid down before her.
Can we REALLY say it is consensual, when there is actually no choice to be made at all?
Also on the matter of consent:
· Future Henry makes love to Clare while Past Henry sleeps beside her. He is already DOING her before she realises it’s not the husband sleeping next to her. No consent.
· Clare has sex with Past Henry and becomes pregnant with his child after Present Henry has decided to get a vasectomy. Consent, hello?!
What about 41-year-old Henry leaving Clare in bed in their home to take 18-year-old Clare’s virginity in the past?
Is this cheating? Is it not?
Is this some kind of polyamory where Present Henry / Clare is the primary relationship, and Future and Past Henry / Clare are the secondary relationships and where “what happens in the past and future, stays in the past and future?” Or some kind of exclusive open marriage?
There are no discussions, adjustments, disagreements, etc. on the topic, which is hardly realistic. Anyone who’s been in any kind of polyamorous arrangement knows that it’s never that simple. You need to discuss desires, boundaries, and apprehensions to make sure both parties are comfortable. And recalibrations are often necessary – and it’s perfectly healthy and okay.
I just remembered about that time when Clare voices concerns about them having “too much sex.” YES! This is NORMAL! A discussion! …oh, but he gaslights her and then proposes, and she says yes. Wow, how nice to see romance isn’t dead.
Characters:
Maybe the book would have been more tolerable if the characters were more likeable. ANY character.
Henry (Past, Present, and Future) and Clare were both insufferable.
Henry is a pretentious, manipulative felon. There, I said it.
I’m not sure if Clare has a mental condition of some sort or if she just likes to hear herself talk, but do we REALLY need to know EVERYTHING she does and eats, in detail? And how many bananas, exactly, are on the table or the brands of all the cars? What’s the point? It’s not part of a scenery description and it’s not useful for her backstory or character development. Is this to make the chapters longer and use up space?
e.g.: “I have prepared and eaten macaroni and cheese and a small salad, have taken my vitamins, half consumed a large glass of skimmed milk.”
Every single chapter.
I mean, I don’t get it. It’s so annoying I literally burst out, “But who cares!” a few times in front of my partner or random people during her chapters.
It’s hard to care about what happens to characters when they annoy you that much.
But you know what we read/hear too little about? Clare’s assault and trauma. It happens out of the blue and it’s never mentioned after the revenge scene. There’s no PTSD, freezing, avoidance, hyper-vigilance, flashbacks, or intrusive thoughts. She’s not even apprehensive about her first sexual encounter with Henry. It’s like it never happened and she can have a perfectly healthy relationship with sex despite the trauma.
Gomez, Ingrid, Celia, and even little Alba were almost as insufferable. Charisse and some of Henry’s coworkers and doctors seemed like the only tolerable beings in the lot. All the persons of colour were stereotyped, it was cringey and almost embarrassing.
Writing:
I felt like the writing was very dull, with Henry and Clare’s every move documented in a flat, monotonous way. And I can’t decide if it’s the writing or the characters that I find most pretentious, but I’ve never heard English speakers use that many French or German words in their day-to-day life. And name drop artists and musicians and other famous people. I felt like it was written with the specific goal of impressing. Bleh. It only made me cringe.
The narrative flow / storytelling rhythm is also very inconsistent. Some trivial parts go on and on and on, and some key moments are over in a few paragraphs. I feel like the first parts of the novel dragged on forever, and the later parts (marriage! fertility issues! multiple miscarriages! matrimonial trouble! baby! death!) were rushed. I’m not sure if it’s the result of the author not understanding the importance of some events / traumas, or if it’s a narrative technique (“time is running out”), but it felt anticlimactic and inconsistent.
In short: I don’t recommend.
Seriously, don’t waste your time, money, or energy on this book.